The Raptor

"What a terrible day," Ellie thought as she gazed at herself in the bathroom mirror. It had only been three weeks since she started her new job, and now she was on the verge of losing it due to a stupid mistake involving a lost project folder. The only saving grace was the speed her dinosaur genes gave her. She was able to make up a days lost work in a matter of hours. Ellie felt grateful for her dinosaur traits for the first time, despite the fact that her colleagues at the office often seemed to avoid her. When she entered the bathroom, other women tended to quickly leave. It was hard enough to be a minority, but it was even harder to be considered a “monster” or “animal.” She heard the other office ladies gossip. She tried to tidy up her hair with one of her claws and attempted to smile, but she couldn't determine if her smile was frightening or attractive. Her beauty was exotic, but her yellow eyes and sharp teeth made her appearance menacing. "Why couldn't I have mutated into a mammal?" she sighed. "Maybe wouldn’t look so scary if I stopped plucking my feathers." Ellie headed back to her cubicle to get her lunch. She had skipped breakfast and she was starving. She sat at her desk and waited for the appropriate time to go to the dining room. She had gotten used to eating alone, so as not to draw attention to herself. Although this saddened her at first, this 15-minute period had become a cherished moment of solitude. After a while, Ellie noticed that her co-workers had started to gather around the coffee-pot and water cooler, indicating that the dining room was now empty. She grabbed her lunchbox and hurried to eat but when she opened the door what she saw made her blood run cold. Sitting at one end of the table was Joseph Hitch, the new guy from the marketing office, still eating his lunch. He was possibly THE most handsome man in the office, a real beefcake! Every lady in the office stole glances at Joe whenever he walked by, and Ellie was no exception. Joseph greeted her cordially with a wave and, surprisingly, didn’t leave. Ellie wanted to, but she was more hungry than embarassed. "Maybe he'll leave soon," she thought. "If I leave now, he might take it the wrong way." Ellie sat at the other end of the table and started drinking from her thermos. She could tell that Joseph was watching her from time to time. She kept her lunchbox closed, waiting for the moment when she would be alone at the table. But Joseph just stuck around, taking out a newspaper after finishing his lunch. "No way," Ellie thought in frustration. "Joseph has to be the last person I want to see me eat. I've always wanted to get his attention, but this will terrify him!" She didn't realize that her tail was wagging from side to side in anxiety as she gazed at her lunchbox with her delicious food inside. "Excuse me, are you okay?" Joseph asked, making Ellie nearly jump out of her seat. "No… I mean… YES! Yes, I'm perfectly fine," Ellie stammered. "Why do you ask?" "Well… it's just that lunch time is up and you haven't touched your meal. And, your tail is uh… thrashing around behind you OOOP… there goes the snack rack," Joseph pointed out. Ellie was at a loss for words, unsure of how to explain her behavior. "Sorry, it's just that I didn't want to disturb you. The way I eat can be a bit...unsettling," she eventually said, picking up the fallen rack. Joseph smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry about me, we're adults. Please go ahead and eat. You wouldn’t want to miss lunch. If I miss lunch I’m useless for the rest of the day," he encouraged her. Ellie couldn't help but feel paranoid. What if Joseph was just waiting to see her eat and then make fun of her like the rest of the staff? But in the end her hunger won out, and she opened her large lunch box. She took out a large piece of raw meat tied to a bone and held it close to her mouth, but noticed Joseph sneaking a peek at her from the corner of his eye while pretending to read the newspaper. She blushed and quickly explained, "I want you to know that I don't always eat like this. I also eat more smaller more processed foods." Joseph seemed preoccupied with his phone, and waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, sure. Don't worry about it. Enjoy your lunch." Ellie felt self-conscious and wondered how to eat the meat in the most feminine way. Unfortunately, her stomach was growling and the scent and hunger proved too much. Eventually she attacked the meal with wild abandon. She stood up, leaned almost horizontally, and used her claws to hold the meat against the table while her tail swayed back and forth. In less than two minutes, the meal was gone. It looked like something out of National Geographic. As she licked her claws clean, she realized what she had just done in front of Joseph and was mortified. She let her raptor instincts get the better of her. "Oh my gosh, I wish a meteor would hit me right now," she exclaimed. Joseph was clearly disturbed sitting in front of her, looking at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. "Hey... I'm so sorry you had to see that," Ellie said tearfully. But Joseph quickly waved his hands. "No, seriously... you don't have to apologize! It was actually very interesting. I uh… have to go back to my office now, I have a lot of work to do. See you later," he said before hurrying out of the room. Ellie watched him leave, still embarrassed, but as he walked out, she noticed something she hadn't seen before. Joseph's tie had dinosaur motifs on it. BEEP BEEP BEEP The alarm on her watch began to sound. Her break was over. She started to gather her things into her purse before she saw that Joseph had left a folder behind. Without even thinking she gathered it up and sped toward the marketing office. In fact she got there before Joseph even did! Which made it hard to find his cubicle but with a little guidance she made her way there to find… Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs everywhere. Plastic dinosaurs of different sizes and shapes. There was a giant Jurassic Park poster behind his monitor. His screen saver had Triceratops marching through a field. He even had a toy figurine of “Blue” the raptor from the recent movies. “He’s a dinosaur nut!” Ellie said in complete surprise. But she barely had time to let it register before she heard footsteps, prompting her to leave the folder and quickly rush back to her own cubicle. She sat down in her chair and took a breath before laughing to herself. “Hehehe! Ellie girl you might just have a shot after all!”